hunters.

The shepherds included hunters, and were cer- CHAPTER IV. tainly not a caste of Hindús. They were nomades Shepherds and dwelling in tents, and were probably of Tartar origin. Their avocations were precisely those which a Brahmanical people, who revolted at the idea of slaughter, or even of trading in animals, would naturally leave as a monopoly in the hands of foreigners. The regular occupation of these shepherds was breeding cattle, and selling or letting out beasts of burden; and no other class in the kingdom was allowed to engage in this cattle trade. They also gained a subsistence by hunting. They were employed by the king to destroy the wild animals and birds which infested the sown fields; and for this public duty they received an allowance of corn from the royal granaries. The inspectors and officers of state must in like manner be excluded from the number of hereditary castes. They were merely individuals, some of whom were Bráhmans, who were selected to fill particular and responsible posts.62

61

The internal administration of the Gangetic Inspectors. kingdom was conducted by inspectors, who seem to have also acted as magistrates. Some were ap

Indus produced alligators. The Nile had a delta; so had the Indus. Beans grew in Egypt, and beans grew in the Punjab. The same animals were to be found in Egypt and India. The people of Ethiopia were darker complexioned than the people of Egypt; and the people of southern India were darker complexioned than the people of northern India. Sometimes the analogy failed. The hair of the Ethiopians was crisp and woolly; that of the southern Hindús was straight and glossy. Strabo ascribed this to difference of climate; the atmosphere of southern India being more humid than that of Ethiopia. The humid climate, however, only prevailed on the western coast of Malabar; Strabo knew nothing of the eastern coast of Coromandel, where the air is singularly dry.

Strabo divides the people of Egypt into three castes only; namely, husbandmen, soldiers, and priests. Egypt, sect. 3.

61 Megasthenes in Strabo, India, sect. 41.

62 Ibid. sect. 49. The shepherds corresponded to the Chandalas. See infra, chap. v.

CHAPTER IV. pointed to the city, some to the camp, and some to the districts or provinces. Their duty as inspectors was to collect full information respecting every movement that was going on, and to send private reports to the king. Their duty as magistrates combined the ordinary routine of the executive, with other measures of supervision and surveillance which are of an essentially oriental character.

System of espionage.

The duties of inspection may be summed up in the one word "espionage." The inspectors comprised the best and most faithful servants of the government; but they were little more than spies and informers. The public women, as in most Asiatic cities, furnished the best information; and thus the metropolitan inspectors employed the city courtezans, whilst the army inspectors employed the female camp followers. In all Asiatic states the work of espionage forms an important element in the administration. It is not perhaps so necessary in principalities where political or feudal ties have any existence, such as in the older Rajpoot kingdoms. But the majority of Asiatic principalities are mere congeries of villages and families, which may be strong as separate and individual communities, but have never been wielded together into a single nationality, bound together by a common sense of mutual interests or patriotic sentiments. Under such circumstances the most searching system of espionage is necessary to guard against sudden outbreaks, mutinies, or revolutions which at any moment might overturn a throne; and it was not confined to bazaars and camps, but often pene

63 Megasthenes in Strabo, India, sect. 50.

trated into the inner domestic life of citizens and CHAPTER IV. soldiers.64

of trade and manufactures.

The duties of the inspectors, as magistrates and Surveillance executive officers, implied a strict surveillance over all the manufactures and commerce of the kingdom; ostensibly perhaps to ensure good workmanship, and prevent fraud; but in reality for the purpose of levying a tax, amounting to one-tenth of the price of every article.

six divisions of

The inspectors, or magistrates of the city, were Duties of the formed into six divisions, each of which consisted of city inspectors. five officials. One division maintained a close supervision over the working of all arts and manufactures. A second division presided over the sale of all such articles, to prevent old goods from being sold as new ones. A third division presided over all sales and exchanges in produce. This division apparently comprised royal brokers, who received the produce from the royal granaries, after the payment of the share to the cultivators; and then supplied it to the retailers in the bazaars, and maintained a supervision over the trade. They took charge of the measures that were employed, and allowed no one individual to deal in various kinds of articles, unless he paid double rates of taxation on all his

64 In the present day this system of espionage is not a political necessity in the states which are included within the limits of the British Indian empire; because the feudatory princes are more or less guaranteed against war and rebellion by the strong arm of the paramount power. But in a native state, like upper Burma, which has not as yet been brought under the system of subsidiary alliances, and which has been the theatre of plots, insurrections, and revolutions for centuries, a system of espionage is naturally extended over the whole kingdom, and bears a strong resemblance to that which prevailed in the old Gangetic empire. A chronic terror pervades the court and palace at Mandalay, corresponding to that which pervaded the court and palace at Patali-putra. The king never ventures out of his palace for years at a time, lest in his absence a rebellion should break out within the palace walls, and a recreant prince should obtain possession of the throne.

CHAPTER IV. sales. A fourth division collected the tax for the king, which, as already stated, amounted to onetenth of the price of the article sold; and any attempt at fraud in the payment of this tax was punished by death. A fifth division registered all births and deaths, with every particular of time and place, for the twofold object of levying a tax, and punishing any concealment. A sixth division entertained all strangers or foreigners, who came as envoys or might possibly be spies." They furnished such visitors with suitable lodgings, and appointed attendants ostensibly to wait upon them, but really to observe their mode of life and duly report their actions. If one of the strangers happened to fall sick, this division of magistrates took special care of him; and if he died they buried him, and took charge of his property.

Collective duties of city inspectors.

Army inspect

ors.

66

In addition to these special duties appertaining to each division, the city magistrates performed other duties in their collective capacity. They took charge of the markets, harbours, and temples; they repaired all public works when necessary; and they fixed the prices of all articles and commodities that were sold in the shops and bazaars.67

The army inspectors, or magistrates, were in like manner formed into six divisions, each of which consisted of five persons. One division was asso

65 In the modern administration of upper Burma royal officers perform duties very similar to those described by Megasthenes. Some officials under the Kampat Woongye are in charge of manufactures; others act as royal brokers for the sale of produce; whilst an official, known as the Kulla Woon, is especially appointed to receive and entertain strangers. In former days, a tax amounting to one-tenth of the price of the article was levied on all goods imported by sea in the Burman dominions. F. Sangermano's description of the Burman empire.

66 Strabo, India, sect. 51.

67 Ibid.

ciated with the chief superintendent of the royal CHAPTER IV. navy, and made all the necessary arrangement for water transport. A second division was associated with the officer in charge of the bullock trains, and made similar arrangement for the land transport of military engines, arms, commissariat for men and beasts, and other necessaries for the army. This division also furnished army attendants, such as grooms, mechanists, and beaters of drums and gongs; for they despatched foragers for grass by the sound of the gong. The third division had charge of what was necessary for the infantry. A fourth division had charge of what was necessary for the cavalry. A fifth division took care of the chariots. A sixth division saw after the elephants.69

ors.

The duties of the inspectors, or magistrates, in the District inspectdistricts are but slightly touched upon. The Greek ambassador probably found more difficulty in collecting information from the provinces, than in obtaining it at the capital. Some of the district officers had charge of the rivers, and measured the land, as was done in Egypt. In other words, they observed the effect of the yearly inundations during the rainy season. Others inspected the great tanks or reservoirs, from which water was distributed by canals; so that all might have an equal share in the irrigation. Others, again, superintended the shepherds and hunters, and rewarded those who kept the fields clear of birds and vermin, whilst punishing those who neglected their duties. They collected the

68 Strabo, India, sect. 52.

69 This observation seems to militate against a previous statement that all the land belonged to the king as sole proprietor. But seeing that the cultivators received a share of the produce as wages, it may be supposed that they were personally interested in the yearly out-turn of grain.